1. Technical Field
This disclosure is directed to integrated circuits, and more particularly, to determine parameters for power and performance management in integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, power management has become an increasingly important factor in the design of integrated circuits (ICs), in part due to increasing levels of integration on a single IC die. The advent of the mobile/portable electronic devices (e.g., smart phones, tablets, etc.) has further driven the demand for more power efficient ICs in order to preserve the battery life of such devices.
Responsive to the demand for more efficient power management on ICs, numerous schemes have been developed. In many ICs, various functional units implemented thereon may be clock gated or power gated. Clock gating may be defined as inhibiting a clock signal from being provided to a functional unit when that unit is idle. Similarly, power gating may be defined as inhibiting power from being provided to a functional unit when it is idle.
Although power management is an important factor in the design of ICs, obtaining optimal performance is another important factor. In many IC designs, there is a tradeoff that exists between power savings and performance. Some IC designs may emphasize higher performance at the expense of greater power consumption. Other IC designs may emphasize reduced power consumption, at the expense of performance.